Tuesday, January 26, 2010

.....passionfruit that is! It's the height of the season & they are spectacular. Ripe, plump, juicy, sweet, highly perfumed & only $2.99 for a bag of 12. MOTH & I have had many a pleasure over the kitchen sink this past week, slurping away at as many passionfruit as our tummies will allow. So because I'm passionate about our amazing country, I thought I'd celebrate this special day with the joys of passionfruit & the Banana & Passionfruit Curd Pavlova is on the menu here at The Hedge today.

1. For the ganache, combine cream, juice and rind in a saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium-high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl, strain over hot cream mixture, whisk until smooth and refrigerate for 4 hours or until thick.

2.Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add juice and combine. Add flours and mix until just combined, then turn onto a floured surface, form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3.Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out pastry to 8mm thick and, using a 3cm-diameter cutter, cut rounds from pastry and place on baking paper-lined oven trays. Press scraps into a ball, re-roll and repeat. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just golden, cool on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

4.Spread half the biscuits with a teaspoon each of ganache, sandwich with remaining biscuits and stand until set. Uniced yo-yos will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Note: To make passionfruit juice, blend passionfruit pulp in a food processor to crack seeds, then strain through a fine sieve. Twelve passionfruit yield about 1 cup of juice.

1.Divide lemonade among twelve ½-cup capacity dariole moulds or disposable cups and stand for 10 minutes to allow bubbles to subside. Place on a tray and freeze for 2-3 hours, then insert an iceblock stick into each one and freeze overnight.

2.In a food processor process the passionfruit pulp and vanilla bean to crack passionfruit seeds, then pass through a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Measure 210mls. of passionfruit juice and combine with sugar syrup, lime juice and 2/3 cup water. Refrigerate until cold, then divide among moulds or cups with lemonade and freeze overnight. Unmould and serve.

Note: To make sugar syrup, combine an equal quantity of sugar and water in a saucepan and boil for 1 minute. One cup each of sugar and water will make 1½ cups sugar syrup which will keep indefinitely refrigerated in a sterile container.

1.Preheat oven to 120C. Line two oven trays with foil. Brush with melted butter, dust with cornflour, shake off excess and set aside.

2. Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, gradually adding sugar until thick and glossy and sugar dissolves (4-5 minutes). Add cornflour and vinegar, whisking until just combined. Spread half the meringue into a 19cm x 28cm rectangle on one lined oven tray and smooth top with a palette knife. Repeat with remaining meringue on other tray and loosely peak top. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 100C and bake until meringue is dry and cracks when lightly pressed (30 minutes). Turn off oven and cool in oven with door ajar.

3. Meanwhile, for the passionfruit curd, process pulp in a food processor to release pulp from seeds, then strain through a fine strainer to yield 250ml juice. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, add reserved egg yolks, sugar and butter, whisk to combine. Stir continuously over a saucepan of simmering water until thickened (3-5 minutes). Cover with plastic wrap, set aside to cool, then refrigerate until firm (2-3 hrs).

4. Lay banana slices on top of flat meringue. Whisk cream until soft peaks form, then fold in curd and spoon mixture over meringue base. Top with remaining meringue and serve drizzled with extra passionfruit pulp.

1. For the pastry, mix the butter, sugar and flour in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the egg and combine until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat the oven to 160C. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and use to line six 8cm-diameter tart tins, then place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Line pastry-lined tins with baking paper, then fill with pastry weights, dried chickpeas or rice, and blind-bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden. While still warm, fill any cracks with leftover pastry, then brush the insides of the tartlet shells with the beaten egg yolk and return to the oven for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.3. Reduce the oven temperature to 120C. To make the filling, lightly mix together the eggs, egg yolk and caster sugar in a bowl until sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cream and passionfruit juice and then strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour the filling into the tartlet shells and bake for 10-15 minutes or until just set – the filling should still wobble slightly in the centre. Leave to cool to room temperature.

4. Just before serving, dust the tarts with icing sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch or under a very hot grill.

25 comments:

JUST got back from a weekend in London where I over indulged of course. Thought to myself on the plane 'Thou shalt DIET as from your arrival.' Here I am now reminding myself that all that is missing from my kitchen are the passionfruit... You temptress you ;-) Well - I shall make my cuppa and off to bed before I write my blogpost, or start rummaging around in the freezer for frozen passionfruit and mango. HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

happy australia day, millie! steve and i have been glued to the tv this past week watching the australian open. unfortunately most of the good matches televise live in the middle of the night here, but there's always taped coverage the next day. pam

Happy Australia Day, Mill's.I have been staying up through the night, watching the Australian Open and Mr. Home has been watching the cycling, so we are very much in the Aussie mood. I think that it would be rude not to make a passion fruit pav under the circumstances, although passion fruit in January in the U.K.are very hard to find.You show the best recipes and, the only thing that I think would make it just that bit more special,, would be to eat it under a beautiful chandelier !!! hahaha. Somehow, I don't think that MOTH will go for that !Oh, and they are showing Australian Masterchef here at the moment. I was sort of half watching it when there was MOTH's girl Justine. I felt as if I knew her !! We have Australia everything over here at the moment. I wish you, MOTH and the family a brilliant Australia Day. I'll have a glass of something red, just to keep you company !! XXXX

Happy Australia Day Millie and MOTH~ Hmmmm...passionfruit, this time of year-Oh yes you are so lucky. I would like a nice serving of that pavlova if you please. Then again- like Willow-I think maybe one of each would be just right.

What delicious looking recipes!! I love passionfruit and that semifreddo is especially tempting. Will definitely bookmark these gorgeous recipes for the future. Thanks so much for sharing. Enjoy the rest of your Australia Day x

Hey Millie... I am so full from our Aussie day BBQ, but I believe I just heard my stomach growl... It's like you picked all my favourite things and posted gorgeous recipes of them!! Thanks for sharing them, I am sure to enjoy making {eating} them. Enjoy your day, I hope it's a super fun Australia day on your side of our amazing country.:)

Fair suck of the sav Mills, that a few deserts you have there!! Although it wouldn't be Australia Day without a bit of pav and a bit of pasho !! Glad someone thought to bring it!! Looks yummo... will be over soon for a slice!! Happy Australia Day!! xx Julie

Happy Australia Day. I love passionfruit too, so will definately be recording these yummy looking recipes. I've had a bit of a craze on semifreddo, and we have just this evening finished off some of the lemon & honey one I made on the weekend.

What awesome recipes. Wow. Thank you soooooo much for your sweet comment on my blog. I truly appreciate it. Go back by and add to the FDO list. I know you've go some great things to add. Hope you have a great week sweet lady!

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Life in the little village of Stirling in the hills above Adelaide in South Australia is just about as good as it gets! Enjoying a cool climate and 'hill-station' feel, Stirling is well-known for its 19th-century stone villas set on large grounds dense with roses, camellias, rhododendrons and huge old Oaks.

With 3 sons, 2 grandchildren & my work in a scientific business dominated by yes, more men, The Laurel Hedge was born out of my sheer desperation for something the boys just don't get & never will!

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15 years of renovating was over - we'd just completed everything & were really enjoying our lovely old Victorian villa in the Eastern suburbs of Adelaide. However we'd always had a fondness for the country life & without warning we found ourselves transported by alien beings disguised as Real Estate Agents to a house on 1/2 acre of wild, rambling gardens in Stirling!

The house is circa 1972 & with all the 70's features. Open-faced brown brick walls, raked ceilings, exposed beams, split levels - totally yuk! However, it's inherent design is great & the location amazing - tucked behind a wonderful old laurel hedge in a quiet country lane in the heart of gorgeous Stirling.